Goodbye Mikey

Friday, July 3rd, we lost our best beagle buddy, Mikey. He was loved and enjoyed as much as any dog could have been, and to say we are heartbroken is an understatement. The tears are a little less each day, but we still get choked up and tears can flow unexpectedly.

He died as the result of an unfortunate accident that was the fault of no one, not even Mikey. He was doing his "beagle thing" right up to the end.

Oh how I wish it had never happened.

We weren't able to say a proper goodbye to him, so I thought I would digress for awhile here about him, somewhat as a eulogy, somewhat as therapy.

Mikey came to us in a special way, as a surprise from Santa Claus. House training a puppy in the middle of winter, especially a beagle puppy, was no small task. (Beagles are notoriously slow at potty training.) But, Mikey, once trained, was 100% without a kennel. We could always leave him and never have a worry.

Mikey had the most expressive personality of any dog we had ever been around. You always knew what he was thinking and feeling. He had a tail that wagged up and down instead of side to side, and when he was happy he would wag that tail until you thought he would launch his back end to the ceiling. We always said his tail was put on backward. :) When he was mad at you, he would "talk" to you with his beagle barks and howls. When he wanted something really bad, he would "talk" too, and when he did he'd throw his head back and his big soft ears would flop. Please? Please?

Mikey really wanted to be a good dog, he really did, but he did have his naughty habits. The absolute crazy thing about him was when he was faced with the choice to do what he knew he shouldn't or be obedient, you could watch the struggle going on inside......."I know I shouldn't do this, but I REALLY want to....but I know I shouldn't....ohhhhhhhh, but I really want to." This scenario was never more evident than each day when we loaded the dishwasher. He really wanted to put his front paws on the edge of the dishwasher and lick the dirty dishes, but he knew it was strictly forbidden. He tried so hard to do the right thing, but every day we'd have to remind him...NO! He also knew he wasn't allowed on the furniture in the living room, but he and I played a game once in awhile when I would take a nap on the couch. I would lay down and after awhile when he thought I was asleep, he would slowly walk over and jump up on the couch down by my feet and curl up next to me. And, for my part of the game, I would pretend I was asleep and didn't know he was there. I loved those naps, especially in the winter when he kept my feet warm.

I would be amiss, if I didn't mention the trouble we had walking him on a leash. At least my neighbors would know this post would be incomplete without it. :) We were never successful, no matter how hard we tried, to leash train him. He hated walking. Running was the only viable option for exercise in his beagle mind. We finally came to the conclusion that he either had to run alongside Dave on a bike or put him on a 12 foot rope for a walk that enabled him to have control of his "sniff". He loved both of these activities.

Mikey was a big part of our life and will always be missed. I once read a quote in a book about beagles. I think it fit Mikey pretty well. "A beagle will be the biggest cross you'll ever bear, and the greatest joy you'll ever know."

We miss you, Mikey!